The first McDonald's restaurant in a former Soviet republic of Central Asia is due to open in Kazakhstan on March 8.

Qairat Boranbaev, the businessman who obtained the franchise rights to operate a McDonald's restaurant in downtown Astana, announced the planned opening during a February 25 press conference in Moscow.

Boranbaev said his restaurant branch would seat a maximum of 206 people and provide more than 200 jobs.

Boranbaev, whose daughter is married to President Nursultan Nazarbaev's grandson, said $3.5 million was invested in the construction of the restaurant building in Astana.

Aleksandr Filippenko, Boranbaev's managing director, said Boranbaev plans to open 15 McDonald's in Kazakhstan by 2019.

He said the plans call for another branch of the restaurant to be opened by July 1 in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city.